


I've Boarded Up The Windows Of My Palace

by redstapler



Category: Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty
Genre: Froopyland, Gen, Mabel just needs someone to talk to, Mabeland, Post-Weirdmageddon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 14:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17347157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redstapler/pseuds/redstapler
Summary: It's a big chaotic universe, but sometimes it throws you a bone.It's a big chaotic universe, but sometimes it throws you a hitchhiking teenage girl.





	I've Boarded Up The Windows Of My Palace

Beth wasn’t angry she’d had to go in on a Saturday. No, but she wasn’t best pleased about it, either. But the surgery was over, everyone had come through okay, and now she was heading home, thinking wistfully of the wine she was going to drink in the bath.

There’s about a fifteen minute stretch of the drive back from the clinic that takes her on a back road. Nothing too out of the way, but even though it’s farther as the crow flies, it saves her on traffic and sometimes a couple of lights. It’s quiet, and if she had farther to go, would take her through what she’d grudgingly admit was some lovely farmland. Farmland was good. Farms had horses, horses needed her care, let the circle be unbroken.

What Beth did not usually see, however, was a teenage girl thumbing it along the side of the road. Jesus, she looked barely Morty’s age. Beth pulled over out of fear of what kind of psycho creep shithead might take advantage of such an opportunity.

“Hi, honey, everything okay?” Beth hoped her voice sounded as Mom-like as it possibly could.

“Uh, hi. How far are you headed?”

“It’s been a while since I hitchhiked, but I’m pretty sure I’m the one who’s supposed to ask you that. Where are you trying to go?”

“I’m aiming for BFE Oregon, but I’m trying to get as far as Portland for now.”

“BFE, huh? It’s pretty there this time of year. I’m heading home from work, so I can’t take you too far. Is there somewhere in town I can drop you?” Beth furiously tamped down the urge to offer a meal and a bed to this girl. She unlocked the car, that was a start. God, this girl looked entirely too sweet to be hitchhiking.

The girl’s face melted in relief at the sound of the car unlocking, and she opened the back door to throw her duffel in. Opening the front, she settled herself in shotgun, placing a backpack at her feet.

“Do you have a phone you need to charge? There’s USB ports in the lighter there.”

“Oh, that’d be great, thank you!” The girl busily set to pulling a charging cord out of the backpack, and plugged in her phone. “Uh, we’re still stopped.”

“Well you haven’t said where you wanted to go.”

“I’m guessing you’re not up to driving to Portland?”

“Ha, no. Your choices are someplace in town, the bus or train station, or a Shoney’s.”

“You...you’re not going to try and talk me out of this?”

“Kid, I don’t even know you. I just picked you up because I’m a mom and I know I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I’d left you there.”

“I can handle myself. I’ve seen stuff you wouldn’t believe.” Beth was honestly a bit frightened by the mix of fear and resolve in the girl's eyes. If she was being more honest, she'd seen that look in Morty and Summer's eyes when they came back from outings with her Dad. In her own eyes more recently.

“Yeah, so’ve I. So where are we going?”

“Uh, Shoney’s, I guess.”

“All right then.”

Beth pulled away, watching the girl fiddle with her phone.

“It’ll charge faster if you stick it on airplane mode and put it down for a while.”

“Huh? Yeah, I know.” Despite sounding vaguely offended, the girl took Beth’s advice and slid the phone in the front pocket of her bag. She leaned forward and turned rapidly to the right, cracking her back as she braced against the car door. Satisfied with the pops in her vertebrae, she leaned back.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“So what’s your name, kid? I'm Beth.”

“Hi, Beth. I’m Mabel.”

“Heh, you and my son Morty could have a Vaudeville act.”

“Nah, I’ve already got a…never mind.” Mabel turned her head and stared out the window. Beth sighed and started the car.

“All right, next stop: Shoney’s.”

There was no way in hell Beth was leaving this kid at a Shoney’s.

A few minutes later, Beth eased the car into the housing development, mentally cursing every speed bump the way she always did. Today had the extra irritant of hoping Mabel didn’t catch on they were in a residential area and not a strip mall or the promised Shoney’s.

“Hey,” the girl finally said in a bored tone, “This isn’t Shoney’s.”

“Um. No. I couldn’t leave you on the side of the road, and upon consideration, I wasn’t too sure about leaving you at a family restaurant, either.”

“I’m not supposed to go to the houses of people my folks don’t know.”

Beth’s insides twisted, her conscience stuck between a rock and a hard place: her own maternal instincts versus the diktat of this girl’s own parents. Mabel turned to her with a wild grin.

“I’m just messin’ with you. Free food is always way better than not free food.” With that, she breezed out of the car and made her way into the open garage.

“I didn’t...well, fine.”

Whoever this girl’s family were, they’d taught her some interesting values. Possibly eerily familiar values. Beth turned off the car and followed her into the house.

She did notice that Mabel had walked right past Rick’s lab setup without a second glance.

Okay, _that_  got her attention.

Who  _was_ this strange child?

“Kids, I’m home! Jerry, you home? Dad?”

Beth was met with the ambient hum of the television in the living room. No one answered her, though. Figures.

“Hello?”

Beth went into the living room to find Mabel sitting next to her father on the couch.

“Hey, sweetie. I see you brought home an urrr--urchin.”

“I...sure. Let’s go with that. Mabel, this my father, Rick.”

“Yeah, I introduced myself a second ago. Rick, tell me again what channel this is?”

Beth gave her father a hard stare. The existence of alien life was now common knowledge, but there was no point in advertising who they were more than they already had. Who knew what connections this girl had? Their entire world had been upturned because of a random classmate of Summer’s. Beth wouldn’t put it past that crappy space government to put a hitchhiking girl on her commute home as part of some new plot to arrest her father. She somehow managed to impart all of that in her glare.

“Uh, satellite,” Rick replied.

Beth thought again about how Mabel had entered the house through the garage.

“Wait, I think I’ve heard of this show…” Mabel trailed off. “My uh...Grun….Great-Uncle told me about it.”

Curiouser and curiouser.

Mabel’s eyes went wide, realizing this family and hers had more in common than first thought, and that she’d just tipped her hand.

Then an ad for Lottocron 8 came on and all hell broke loose.

“Okay, I _know_  I’ve heard about that place from my Grunkle. How the heck are you getting ads for a planet in another _dimension_?” Panic had outstripped self-preservation, and Mabel wasn’t paying attention to the secrets she was airing. Beth decided to be the adult in the room. Again. Like in general, not just since she’d gotten home.

“Mabel, would you like to tell me what’s going on?”

“Uh…” The room felt very tense.  
  
“Mabel, what’s in Oregon?” Beth was not prepared for her father’s head to whip around.

“Oregon? I’ll tell you what’s in Oregon! That no-good piece of shit who disappeared into the ether and his even worse, bigger piece of shit brother!”

Mabel broke down into hysterical giggles.

“So you’ve met my Grunkles then,” she managed breathlessly. More hysterical laughter followed.

“I don’t understand,” Beth said.

“Oh great. More Pineses. That’s juuuuuuust what the world needed.”

“Dad, what is going on?”

“Somehow you managed to pick up the niece of two very old friends of mine. Christ, just when I think the universe can’t get any frigging smaller…”

“How on _earth do_  you know my Grunkles?”

“E-aarrrth has nothing to do with it, kid. I met ol’ Fordsy on the other side.” Mabel gaped at this strange old man who suddenly had stories she _desperately_  needed to hear.

“Yeah, but Grunkle Stan was always here.”

“Oh, I know. That asshole owes me $50.”

“He owes a lot of people $50,” she replied with a grin.

Beth had entirely lost the power of speech. Suddenly this strange child was exchanging banter with her reprobate father. This strange child was holding her _own_  in that conversation. What the entire hell was happening? She finally managed a weak, unintelligible croak.

“Beth, sweetie, don’t worry about it. This kid is practically family.”

“She is?”

“I am?” Mabel resolved to get those stories about Ford as soon as she possibly could.

Rick let out a deep exhale, trying to figure out where to start. “Tee-ell-dee-arr, I was close with her uncles--”

“Grunkles.”

“Fine, Grunkles. Ford got me out of some tight spots, and Stanley got me right back into a few of them. Kid, if you were trying to run away, you’ve entirely blown it.”

“What? I wasn’t running away, I was running _towards_. I need to get back to Gravity Falls.”

Any pretense at secrecy, privacy, or keeping this to her damn self was entirely out the window.

“What do you need in that dump?”

“I just...I need to get back.”

“Suit yourself, kid. There ya go.” With that, Rick shot his portal gun into the middle of the room. Mabel screamed and ran into the kitchen.

“Dad!”

“What? The kid wanted to go somewhere, I opened a portal to get her there.”

“Well that clearly didn’t help.”

“Ungrateful little--.”

“Dad! Just, stay here.”

“Fine by me. Show’s back on anyway.” Rick closed the portal, then settled himself back onto the couch, Ball Fondlers now back on the screen.

Beth went into the kitchen to find Mabel leaning over the sink, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Mabel? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just…The last time I saw one of those it destroyed an entire basement.”

Beth blinked at that.

“Wait, the gun or the portal?”

“The portal. I didn’t even know there was a gun that made them.”

“Boy, kid. You weren’t kidding when you said you’d seen stuff. Guess I should’ve believed you.”

“I’m not even sure what you’d need to know, but I think...I think your Dad knowing my Grunkles kinda is all the context you’d need?”

“Yeah, that kinda does it. C’mere, kid. You want a hug?”

“Yes, please.” Mabel went over to Beth, still a little shaky. Whatever had happened the last time she’d seen a portal had clearly scrambled her eggs pretty bad. Beth suspected more damage had been done than to just a basement.

“All right, so. Now that I know you’re from a family just as bonkers as mine is, can you tell me why you were hitchhiking?”

“I need to get back to Gravity Falls.”

“You mentioned that. How come?”

Mabel sat down at the kitchen table and regarded Beth for a minute. Beth sat down and regarded her right back. After a few false starts of opening and closing her mouth, Mabel took a chance.

“Your Dad. I don’t know who he is, but it sounds like he’s been off-planet a lot.”

“That’s true.”

“Have you ever gone with him?”

“Sometimes.”

“You ever see some really wild stuff? I mean like, non-Euclidean, waking nightmare stuff?”

“Gotten into the Lovecraft already, I see. But yes.”

“My brother won’t shut up about him.” A pained look crossed Mabel’s face when she mentioned her brother. Beth noticed.

“And where is your brother?”

“Home.”

“Why didn’t you bring him with you? Sounds like a hitchhiking adventure with your big brother might be--”

“He’s my twin, and I’m the older one.”

“Okay, well. Same question stands.”

“I had to do this myself. But you said you’d seen the really crazy stuff, too. Who do you talk about it with?”

“I don’t. I mean, sometimes I ask my Dad questions. My kids take it all in stride, and my husband, well…” Beth trailed off, realizing she was about to go on a Jerry Rant to a kid she barely knew. “Folks around here have seen a lot, but no one really talks about it.”

Mabel barked a mirthless laugh.

“Yeah, I know that one. Never Mind All Of That!” The way she said it, Beth thought it sounded like a slogan-- It sounded like a slogan Jerry would write.

“So you’ve seen some stuff, it’s upset you, and you have no one to talk about it with.”

“That’s about the size of it.”

“What about your parents?”

“There is so much they don’t know. There was stuff we could never explain, stuff that would make them never let us visit Gravity Falls again...Mom! Dad! I need to see a shrink who’s got experience with paranormal trauma! I can’t imagine that conversation going over well.”

“And your brother? Surely he saw the same things you did.”

“Yeah, but he’s been like, _preparing_  for that kind of stuff his whole life. He’s such a nerd, always up to his eyes in Ghost Harasser recaps.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s okay. Maybe he’s not telling you--”

“He’s never not told me.”

Beth decides to take another tack.

“What about friends you made there? Anyone you can write to? Email? Text message? Skype chat?”

“I already do those things. It helps a little, but I need to see, I need to be sure…” Mabel trails off.

“Let me guess, what you need to see is another thing that requires three hours of explanation, with accompanying slide deck?”

“Heh, basically.”

“So here’s what I’m getting. You had some traumatic experiences that involved the paranormal and possibly extra-dimensional or extraterrestrial elements. You’re having trouble processing these experiences, and everyone you could talk to about them are distant either physically or metaphorically. And you’re a kid, so the usual negative coping mechanisms people abuse like drugs and alcohol are off the table….stop me when I hit a wrong note, kid.”

“Nah, you read me like a book. So what do I do about any of it?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out, how’s that?”

“That’ll have to do, I guess.”

“Well, do you feel like talking to me about any of it? I have a lot of the context you’re dealing with, if not the specifics. Dimension and planet hopping became as common as brushing my teeth a long time ago.”

“That’s...a pretty good idea, actually. Woof. Okay. Where to start.”

Beth, realizing this was going to take a minute got some glasses of water and returned to the table. Mabel took a grateful sip and prepared herself.

“Basically, the entire town got trapped in a stasis bubble, and then we all worked together to avert an apocalypse. So I’ve been doing some research, and the closest thing I’ve found is survivor’s guilt? Which is dumb, because everyone survived. It’s been a while, but Grunkle Stan is still recovering. Maybe he always will be. But he’s here, and he’s going to be fine.”

“You don’t have to give me the full story, but can I ask what happened to him?”

“He voluntarily wiped his entire memory, punched a chaos demon, and saved us all.”

“Oh.” Beth found herself wishing her glass had wine in it, not water.

“He’s a specific example but like, it’s a little more general than that. Things got really bad for a couple days, and I didn’t have that experience. I was...somewhere else.”

“You weren’t in the stasis bubble?”

“I was. I was uh...in another stasis bubble within the one over the town. Yo dawg, I heard you liked being trapped in stasis bubbles…”

Beth laughed. “So we trapped you in a stasis bubble inside another stasis bubble.”

Mabel gave Beth an appraising look. “Meme literate, I see.”

“I have teenage kids. I know a lot of stuff you wouldn’t expect. I mean, in addition to the interplanetary stuff. Normal Earth stuff, too. Tell me about the bubble.”

“It was created specifically for me, tailored to my desires and wants. I was safe there, certainly safer than everyone else in town.”

A sense of familiarity and dread crept up Beth’s neck.

“A special world all your own where nothing could hurt you and everything was provided.”

“...yes.”

“Yeah, I know how those can go sideways.”

“Did an overpowered interdimensional chaos demon trap you in a bubble?”

“I mean, I’ve definitely heard my father called worse.”

Mabel chokes on the water she’s just sipped.

“Your father trapped you in--”

Beth held up a hand.

“He didn’t trap me. He created a special playland for me. More of a pocket dimension than anything else. Froopyland.”

Mabel wrinkled her nose.

“That’s a dumb name.”

“Oh yeah, what was your place called?” Beth isn’t sure which she can’t believe less: that she’s arguing with a teenager or that they’re arguing over their bespoke pocket dimensions.

“Mabeland.”

“Mmhm. So what happened in Mabeland?”

“At first, it was great. I wasn’t cold or scared or hungry like the rest of the town was. But then my brother and some friends came to find me, and things got pretty weird fast.”

“I promise you, it can’t get as weird as King Tommy.”

“King who?”

Beth caught herself when she realized how close she was to explaining the sexual and cannibalistic habits of her now-dead childhood friend to a fourteen year old girl.

“Let’s focus on you. So you have survival guilt that you were fine when your loved ones weren’t. Why is that making you hitchhike to Oregon?”

“I don’t fit in anywhere at home. None of my old friends really get who I am anymore, and I’ve made some new friends, but...I haven’t...I can’t really…” Mabel struggles to complete her thought.

“Trying to explain something like, “no, I really went to a wedding in space that got busted up by interstellar Interpol and then went on the lam for a week” to new friends seems risky?”

“Oddly specific, but yeah. I just want to go and be somewhere that I don’t have to _explain_ because they already _know_.”

Beth made a snap decision.

“I’ll tell you what. Hang out here tonight. We’ll swap war stories, and in the morning, my Dad can take you to Gravity Falls.”

“No portals.”

“Don’t worry, no portals. Dad has a spaceship. He can get you to Oregon in like an hour.”

Mabel boggled.

“And he just _has_  this stuff? In plain sight?”

“No one really cares now after the whole business with the Federation.”

“Huh.”

“I think it might help if you met my kids. They’ve also been through a few rough experiences that happened very far from Earth. It might help to have friends who, even if they weren’t with you in Gravity Falls, you don’t have to hide that stuff, either. Like I said, stay the night, we’ll figure it all out in the morning.”

“I’d really like that, thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. Summer and Morty could probably do with someone not in our family to talk to as well. HEY DAD!”

“WHAT?” Rick yelled as he shuffled into the kitchen.

“We’re taking Mabel to Oregon tomorrow. In the ship, though, no portals.”

“Ugh, fine. Mabel, I’m holding you for ransom so Stan’ll give me that $50.”

“Would you believe that wouldn’t be the first time?” Mabel grinned, all metal and wires.

“Yeah, I would. No good, piece of--”

“DAD.”

“He knows what he did.”

The next day, Mabel made sure to have her phone on and recording as Rick landed his car on the front lawn of the Mystery Shack.

Both Stan and Ford came running out, and both began yelling when the saw who was escorting their niece.

Mabel definitely got that reunion on her phone, too. Beth might have been shooting B roll. (She absolutely was.)

**Author's Note:**

> I just...I just wanted Mabel and Beth to bond over their own personal pocket universes that went to hell.
> 
> This took place after The ABCs of Beth, but before The Rickchurian Mortydate.
> 
> Title from Once I Was Mighty by Martina Sorbara.
> 
> I'm redstapler on Dreamwidth and Pillowfort if you want come yell with me.


End file.
